THQ has informed us that if the company can’t sell Big huge Games it will be forced to close the studio. In a statement, which was a reaction to a story earlier today about layoffs at Big Huge Games, THQ’s Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications, Julie MacMedan, told us that it plans to close the studio if a sale is not completed in the “near future.”

The company also said that it has notified Los Angeles-based Heavy Iron Studios and Carlsbad-based Incinerator that they will become independent companies.

THQ says that this is all part of the company’s business realignment that it announced earlier this year. Full statement from THQ after the break.

“As part of THQ’s previously announced business realignment and related headcount reduction plans that targeted cost reductions of $220 million, including a reduction in workforce of 600 people worldwide, THQ today notified the staff at two of its development studios that they will be spun out as independent companies: Heavy Iron in Los Angeles, CA, and Incinerator in Carlsbad, CA. In addition, THQ informed the staff at its Big Huge Games studio in Timonium, MD, that it plans to close the studio if a sale is not completed in the near future. These actions were unfortunate but were necessitated by the difficult economic environment.”